Search results for: welding quality level

Authors: Fardin Boustani, Mohammah Hosein Hojati, Masoud Hashemi

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The Beshar River is one aquatic ecosystem, which is located next to the city of Yasuj in southern Iran. The Beshar river has been contaminated by industrial factories such as effluent of sugar factory, agricultural and other activities in this region such as, Imam Sajjad hospital, drainage from agricultural farms, Yasuj urban surface runoff and effluent of wastewater treatment plants ,specially Yasuj waste water treatment plant. In order to evaluate the effects of these pollutants on the quality of the Beshar river, five monitoring stations were selected along its course. The first station is located upstream of Yasuj near the Dehnow village; stations 2 to 4 are located east, south and west of city; and the 5th station is located downstream of Yasuj. Several water quality parameters were sampled. These include pH, dissolved oxygen, biological oxygen demand (BOD), temperature, conductivity, turbidity, total dissolved solids and discharge or flow measurements. Water samples from the five stations were collected and analyzed to determine the following physicochemical parameters: EC, pH, T.D.S, T.H, No2, DO, BOD5, COD during 2008 to 2010. The study shows that the BOD5 value of station 1 is at a minimum (1.7 ppm) and increases downstream from stations 2 to 4 to a maximum (11.6 ppm), and then decreases at station 5. The DO values of station 1 is a maximum (8.45 ppm), decreases downstream to stations 2 - 4 which are at a minimum (3.1 ppm), before increasing at station 5. The amount of BOD and TDS are highest at the 4th station and the amount of DO is lowest at this station, marking the 4th station as more highly polluted than the other stations .This study shows average amount of the water quality parameters in first year of sampling (2008) have had a better quality relation to third year in 2010 because of recent drought in this region and pollutant increasing .As the Beshar river path after 5th station goes through the mountain area with more slope and flow velocity ,so the physicochemical parameters improve at the 5th station due to pollutant degradation and dilution. Finally the point and nonpoint pollutant sources of Beshar river were determined and compared to the monitoring results.

Keywords: Beshar river, physicochemical parameter, waterpollution, water quality, Yasuj

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Authors: M. Almutairi, S. Hadjiloucas

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The harmonic distortion of voltage is important in relation to power quality due to the interaction between the large diffusion of non-linear and time-varying single-phase and three-phase loads with power supply systems. However, harmonic distortion levels can be reduced by improving the design of polluting loads or by applying arrangements and adding filters. The application of passive filters is an effective solution that can be used to achieve harmonic mitigation mainly because filters offer high efficiency, simplicity, and are economical. Additionally, possible different frequency response characteristics can work to achieve certain required harmonic filtering targets. With these ideas in mind, the objective of this paper is to determine what size single tuned passive filters work in distribution networks best, in order to economically limit violations caused at a given point of common coupling (PCC). This article suggests that a single tuned passive filter could be employed in typical industrial power systems. Furthermore, constrained optimization can be used to find the optimal sizing of the passive filter in order to reduce both harmonic voltage and harmonic currents in the power system to an acceptable level, and, thus, improve the load power factor. The optimization technique works to minimize voltage total harmonic distortions (VTHD) and current total harmonic distortions (ITHD), where maintaining a given power factor at a specified range is desired. According to the IEEE Standard 519, both indices are viewed as constraints for the optimal passive filter design problem. The performance of this technique will be discussed using numerical examples taken from previous publications.

Keywords: Harmonics, passive filter, power factor, power quality.

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Authors: Bo Yang, Christopher Monterola

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Urban intersection control without the use of the traffic light has the potential to vastly improve the efficiency of the urban traffic flow. For most proposals in the literature, such lightless intersection control depends on the mass market commercialization of highly intelligent autonomous vehicles (AV), which limits the prospects of near future implementation. We present an efficient lightless intersection traffic control scheme that only requires Level 1 AV as defined by NHTSA. The technological barriers of such lightless intersection control are thus very low. Our algorithm can also accommodate a mixture of AVs and conventional vehicles. We also carry out large scale numerical analysis to illustrate the feasibility, safety and robustness, comfort level, and control efficiency of our intersection control scheme.

Keywords: Intersection control, autonomous vehicles, traffic modelling, intelligent transport system.

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Authors: Kelly Grani Yuen

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Accounting scandals and auditing frauds are perceived to be driven by aggressive companies and misrepresentation of audit reports. However, local legal systems and law enforcements may affect the services auditors provide to their ‘important’ clients. Under the civil law and common law jurisdictions, the standard setters, the government, and the regulatory bodies treat cases differently. As such, whether or not different forms of legal systems and extent of law enforcement plays an important role in auditor’s Audit Quality is a question this paper attempts to explore. The paper focuses on the investigation in Asia, where Hong Kong represents the common-law jurisdiction, while Taiwan and China represent the civil law jurisdiction. Only the ten reputable accounting firms are used in this study due to the differences in rankings and establishments of some of the small local audit firms. This will also contribute to the data collected between the years 2007-2013. By focusing on the use of multiple regression based on the dependent (Audit Quality) and independent variables (Client Importance, Law Enforcement, and Press Freedom), six different models are established. Results demonstrate that since different jurisdictions have different legal systems and market regulations, auditor’s treatment on ‘important’ clients will vary. However, with the moderators in place (law enforcement and press freedom), the relationship between client importance and audit quality may be smoothed out. With that in mind, this study contributes to local governments and standard setters’ consideration on legal reform and proper law enforcement in the market. Perhaps, with such modifications on the economic systems, collusion between companies and auditors can finally be put to a halt.

Keywords: Audit quality, client importance, jurisdiction, modified audit opinions.

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Authors: Jun Li, Wenze Wang, Zhanggui Hu, Yongwei Zhu, Dunwen Zuo

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Non-water based fixed abrasive polishing was adopted to manufacture LBO crystal for nano precision surface quality because of its deliquescent. Ethyl alcohol was selected as the non-water based slurry solvent and ethanediamine, lactic acid, hydrogen peroxide was added in the slurry as a chemical additive, respectively. Effect of different additives with non-water based slurry on material removal rate, surface topography, microscopic appearances, and surface roughness were investigated in fixed abrasive polishing of LBO crystal. The results show the best surface quality of LBO crystal with surface roughness Sa 8.2 nm and small damages was obtained by non-water based slurry with lactic acid. Non-water based fixed abrasive polishing can achieve nano precision surface quality of LBO crystal with high material removal.

Keywords: Non-water based slurry, LBO crystal, Fixed abrasive polishing, Surface roughness.

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Authors: Z. Olczykowski

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The paper presents the impact of work on the electric arc furnace. Arc equipment is one of the largest receivers powered by the power system. Electric arc disturbances arising during melting process occurring in these furnaces are the cause of an abrupt change of the passive power of furnaces. Currents drawn by these devices undergo an abrupt change, which in turn cause voltage fluctuations and light flicker. The quantitative evaluation of the voltage fluctuations is now the basic criterion of assessment of an influence of unquiet receiver on the supplying net. The paper presents the method of determination of range of voltage fluctuations and light flicker at parallel operation of arc devices. The results of measurements of voltage fluctuations and light flicker indicators recorded in power supply networks of steelworks were presented, with different number of parallel arc devices. Measurements of energy quality parameters were aimed at verifying the proposed method in practice. It was also analyzed changes in other parameters of electricity: the content of higher harmonics, asymmetry, voltage dips.

Keywords: Power quality, arc furnaces, propagation of voltage fluctuations.

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Authors: Danping Lin, C.K.M. Lee

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Re-entrant scheduling is an important search problem with many constraints in the flow shop. In the literature, a number of approaches have been investigated from exact methods to meta-heuristics. This paper presents a genetic algorithm that encodes the problem as multi-level chromosomes to reflect the dependent relationship of the re-entrant possibility and resource consumption. The novel encoding way conserves the intact information of the data and fastens the convergence to the near optimal solutions. To test the effectiveness of the method, it has been applied to the resource-constrained re-entrant flow shop scheduling problem. Computational results show that the proposed GA performs better than the simulated annealing algorithm in the measure of the makespan

Keywords: Resource-constrained, re-entrant, genetic algorithm (GA), multi-level encoding

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Authors: S.Srinivas

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Multi-level voltage source inverters offer several advantages such as; derivation of a refined output voltage with reduced total harmonic distortion (THD), reduction of voltage ratings of the power semiconductor switching devices and also the reduced electro-magnetic-interference problems etc. In this paper, new carrier-overlapped phase-disposition or sub-harmonic sinusoidal pulse width modulation (CO-PD-SPWM) and also the carrieroverlapped phase-disposition space vector modulation (CO-PDSVPWM) schemes for a six-level diode-clamped inverter topology are proposed. The principle of the proposed PWM schemes is similar to the conventional PD-PWM with a little deviation from it in the sense that the triangular carriers are all overlapped. The overlapping of the triangular carriers on one hand results in an increased number of switchings, on the other hand this facilitates an improved spectral performance of the output voltage. It is demonstrated through simulation studies that the six-level diode-clamped inverter with the use of CO-PD-SPWM and CO-PD-SVPWM proposed in this paper is capable of generating multiple levels in its output voltage. The advantages of the proposed PWM schemes can be derived to benefit, especially at lower modulation indices of the inverter and hence this aspect of the proposed PWM schemes can be well exploited in high power applications requiring low speeds of operation of the drive.

Keywords: Diode clamped inverter, Pulse width modulation, Six level inverter, carrier based PWM.

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Authors: Kuo-Cheng Liu

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In this paper, we propose ablock-wise watermarking scheme for color image authentication to resist malicious tampering of digital media. The thresholding technique is incorporated into the scheme such that the tampered region of the color image can be recovered with high quality while the proofing result is obtained. The watermark for each block consists of its dual authentication data and the corresponding feature information. The feature information for recovery iscomputed bythe thresholding technique. In the proofing process, we propose a dual-option parity check method to proof the validity of image blocks. In the recovery process, the feature information of each block embedded into the color image is rebuilt for high quality recovery. The simulation results show that the proposed watermarking scheme can effectively proof the tempered region with high detection rate and can recover the tempered region with high quality.

Keywords: thresholding technique, tamper proofing, tamper recovery

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Authors: Turki M. Habeebullah, Said Munir, Karl Ropkins, Essam A. Morsy, Atef M. F. Mohammed, Abdulaziz R. Seroji

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In this paper air quality conditions in Makkah and Leeds are compared. These two cities have totally different climatic conditions. Makkah climate is characterised as hot and dry (arid) whereas that of Leeds is characterised as cold and wet (temperate). This study uses air quality data from 2012 collected in Makkah, Saudi Arabia and Leeds, UK. The concentrations of all pollutants, except NO are higher in Makkah. Most notable, the concentrations of PM10 are much higher in Makkah than in Leeds. This is probably due to the arid nature of climatic conditions in Makkah and not solely due to anthropogenic emission sources, otherwise like PM10 some of the other pollutants, such as CO, NO, and SO2 would have shown much greater difference between Leeds and Makkah. Correlation analysis is performed between different pollutants at the same site and the same pollutants at different sites. In Leeds the correlation between PM10 and other pollutants is significantly stronger than in Makkah. Weaker correlation in Makkah is probably due to the fact that in Makkah most of the gaseous pollutants are emitted by combustion processes, whereas most of the PM10 is generated by other sources, such as windblown dust, re-suspension, and construction activities. This is in contrast to Leeds where all pollutants including PM10 are predominantly emitted by combustions, such as road traffic. Furthermore, in Leeds frequent rains wash out most of the atmospheric particulate matter and suppress re-suspension of dust. Temporal trends of various pollutants are compared and discussed. This study emphasises the role of climatic conditions in managing air quality, and hence the need for region-specific controlling strategies according to the local climatic and meteorological conditions.

Keywords: Air pollution, climatic conditions, particulate matter, Makkah, Leeds.

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Authors: S. Shaaban, T. McNamara, S. Hudson

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This paper reports on the performance of deliberately unbalanced, reliable, non-automated and assembly lines that merge, whose workstations differ in terms of their mean operation times. Simulations are carried out on 5- and 8-station lines with 1, 2 and 4 buffer capacity units, % degrees of line imbalance of 2, 5 and 12, and 24 different patterns of means imbalance. Data on two performance measures, namely throughput and average buffer level were gathered, statistically analysed and compared to a merging balanced line counterpart. It was found that the best configurations are a balanced line arrangement and a monotone decreasing order for each of the parallel merging lines, with the first generally resulting in a lower throughput and the second leading to a lower average buffer level than those of a balanced line.

Keywords: Average buffer level, merging lines, simulation, throughput, unbalanced.

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Authors: Matías Micheletto, Rodrigo Santos, Sergio F. Ochoa

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In developing countries, most roads in rural areas are dirt road. They require frequent maintenance since they are affected by erosive events, such as rain or wind, and the transit of heavy-weight trucks and machinery. Early detection of damages on the road condition is a key aspect, since it allows to reduce the maintenance time and cost, and also the limitations for other vehicles to travel through. Most proposals that help address this problem require the explicit participation of drivers, a permanent internet connection, or important instrumentation in vehicles or roads. These constraints limit the suitability of these proposals when applied into developing regions, like Latin America. This paper proposes an alternative method, based on unattended crowdsensing, to determine the quality of dirt roads in rural areas. This method involves the use of a mobile application that complements the road condition surveys carried out by organizations in charge of the road network maintenance, giving them early warnings about road areas that could be requiring maintenance. Drivers can also take advantage of the early warnings while they move through these roads. The method was evaluated using information from a public dataset. Although they are preliminary, the results indicate the proposal is potentially suitable to provide awareness about dirt roads condition to drivers, transportation authority and road maintenance companies.

Keywords: Dirt roads automatic quality assessment, collaborative system, unattended crowdsensing method, roads quality awareness provision.

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Authors: Despina Galani, Anastasios Alexandridis, Antonios Stavropoulos

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The main thrust of this paper is to assess the level of disclosure in the annual reports of non-financial Greek firms and to empirically investigate the hypothesized impact of several firm characteristics on the extent of mandatory disclosure. A disclosure checklist consisting of 100 mandatory items was developed to assess the level of disclosure in the 2009 annual reports of 43 Greek companies listed at the Athens stock exchange. The association between the level of disclosure and some firm characteristics was examined using multiple linear regression analysis. The study reveals that Greek companies on general have responded adequately to the mandatory disclosure requirements of the regulatory bodies. The findings also indicate that firm size was significant positively associated with the level of disclosure. The remaining variables such as age, profitability, liquidity, and board composition were found to be insignificant in explaining the variation of mandatory disclosures. The outcome of this study is undoubtedly of great concern to the investment community at large to assist in evaluating the extent of mandatory disclosure by Greek firms and explaining the variation of disclosure in light of firm-specific characteristics.

Keywords: Mandatory disclosure, Annual report, Disclosure index

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Authors: Lertchai Ratana-Arporn, Aphisith Angkhanit

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The objective of this study was to develop safety practices which is suitable for Thai industrial operators from Incident and Injury Free, IIF to create safety behavior and reduce the un-safe records in the petroleum industry. A number of 310 technicians i.e., 295 males and 15 females, in service maintenance section participated in this program. The safety attitude level and safety behavior level for pre-attended and post-attended the developed safety practices of the technicians were evaluated using questionnaire procedure and on-site observation. After applied the developed practice program, both of the safety attitudes and safety behavior were increased to be at very good level and good level, respectively. Evaluating the follow-up unsafe records, it was found that the injury was reduced from 0.11 to 0 case/month, the medical treatment case was reduced from 0.22 to 0 case/month and the first aid case was reduced from 1 to 0.33 case/month. The developed safety working practice was successfully implemented to Thai industrial operators.

Keywords: Incident and Injury Free, safety practices, Thai industrial operators, "WeCare".

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Authors: AlNPhannee Saengkaew, Armin Dadgar, Juergen Blaesing, Thomas Hempel, Sakuntam Sanorpim, Chanchana Thanachayanont, Visittapong Yordsri, Watcharee Rattanasakulthong, Alois Krost

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Group-III nitride material as particularly AlxGa1-xN is one of promising optoelectronic materials to require for shortwavelength devices. To achieve the high-quality AlxGa1-xN films for a high performance of such devices, AlN-nucleation layers are the important factor. To improve the AlN-nucleation layers with a variation of Ga-addition, XRD measurements were conducted to analyze the crystalline quality of the subsequent Al0.1Ga0.9N with the minimum ω-FWHMs of (0002) and (10-10) reflections of 425 arcsec and 750 arcsec, respectively. SEM and AFM measurements were performed to observe the surface morphology and TEM measurements to identify the microstructures and orientations. Results showed that the optimized Ga-atoms in the Al(Ga)Nnucleation layers improved the surface diffusion to form moreuniform crystallites in structure and size, better alignment of each crystallite, and better homogeneity of island distribution. This, hence, improves the orientation of epilayers on the Si-surface and finally improves the crystalline quality and reduces the residual strain of subsequent Al0.1Ga0.9N layers.

Keywords: AlGaN, UV-LEDs, seed layers, AFM, TEM

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Authors: Ramy H. Mohammed

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Understanding the behavior of airflow in a room is essential for building designers to provide the most efficient design of ventilation system, and having acceptable indoor air quality. This trend is the motive to solve the relationship between airflow parameters and thermal comfort. This paper investigates airflow characteristics, indoor air quality (IAQ), and the thermal comfort (TC) in a ventilated room with a displacement ventilation system using three dimensional CFD code [AirPak 2.0.6]. After validation of the code, a numerical study is executed for a typical room with dimensions of 5m by 3m by 3m height according to a variety of supply air velocities, supply air temperature and supply air relative humidity. The finite volume method and the indoor zero equation turbulence models are employed for solving the governing equations numerically. The temperature field and the mean age of air (MAA) in the modeled room for a displacement ventilation system are determined according to a variety of the above parameters. The variable air volume (VAV) systems with different supply air velocity are applicable to control room air temperature for a displacement ventilation system.

Keywords: Displacement ventilation, AirPak, Indoor zero equation, MAA.

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Authors: Ayman E. Taha, Fawzy A. Abd El-Ghany

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A crossbreeding experiment was carried out between two Egyptian strains of chickens namely Mandarah (MM) and El-Salam (SS). The two purebred strains and their reciprocal crosses (MS and SM) were used to estimate the effect of crossing on egg laying and egg quality parameters, direct additive and maternal additive effects as well as heterosis and direct heterosis percentages for studied traits. Results revealed that SM cross recorded the highest significant averages for most of egg production traits including body weight at sexual maturity (BW1), egg numbers at first 90 days, 42 weeks and 65 weeks of age (EN1, EN2 and EN3; respectively), egg weight at 90 days, 42 weeks of age (EW1 and EW2), egg mass at 90 days, 42 weeks and 65 weeks of age (EM1, EM2 and EM3; respectively), feed conversion ratio to egg production at 90 days , 42 weeks and 65 weeks of age (FCR1, FCR2 and FCR3; respectively), fertility and commercial hatchability percentages. Moreover, SM line reached the age sexual maturity (ASM) and period to the first ten eggs (Pf10 egg) at earlier age than other lines. On the other hand, crossing did not well improve egg quality parameters. Estimates and percentages of direct additive effect (GI) were negative for most of the studied traits except for EN1, EN2, EN3, FCR3, fertility, scientific and commercial hatchability percentages that were positive. But Estimates and percentages of maternal heterosis (Gm) were positive for all the studied traits of egg production, except for BW2, BW3, ASM, Pf10, FCR1, FCR2, FCR3 and scientific hatchability that were negative. Also, positive estimates and percentages of heterosis were recorded for most of egg production and egg quality traits. It was concluded that using of SS strain as a sire line and MM strain as a dam line resulting in best new commercial egg line (SM) which is of great concern for poultry breeder in Egypt.

Keywords: Mandarahand El-Salam chickens, Crossing, Egg production, Egg quality, Crossbreeding components.

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Authors: Zs. Csanádi, A. Szabó Nagy, J. Szabó, J. Erdős

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Atmospheric aerosols have several important environmental impacts and health effects in point of air quality. Monitoring the PM10-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) could have important environmental significance and health protection aspects. Benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) is the most relevant indicator of these PAH compounds. In Hungary, the Hungarian Air Quality Network provides air quality monitoring data for several air pollutants including BaP, but these data show only the annual mean concentrations and maximum values. Seasonal variation of BaP concentrations comparing the heating and non-heating periods could have important role and difference as well. For this reason, the main objective of this study was to assess the annual concentration and seasonal variation of BaP associated with PM10 in the ambient air of Northwestern Hungary seven different sampling sites (six urban and one rural) in the sampling period of 2008–2013. A total of 1475 PM10 aerosol samples were collected in the different sampling sites and analyzed for BaP by gas chromatography method. The BaP concentrations ranged from undetected to 8 ng/m3 with the mean value range of 0.50-0.96 ng/m3 referring to all sampling sites. Relatively higher concentrations of BaP were detected in samples collected in each sampling site in the heating seasons compared with non-heating periods. The annual mean BaP concentrations were comparable with the published data of the other Hungarian sites.

Keywords: Air quality, benzo(a)pyrene, PAHs, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

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Authors: M. Moeinaddini, Z. Asadi-Shekari, Z. Sultan, M. Zaly Shah

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Happiness can be related to everything that can provide a feeling of satisfaction or pleasure. This study tries to consider the relationship between land use factors and feeling of happiness at the neighbourhood level. Land use variables (beautiful and attractive neighbourhood design, availability and quality of shopping centres, sufficient recreational spaces and facilities, and sufficient daily service centres) are used as independent variables and the happiness score is used as the dependent variable in this study. In addition to the land use variables, socio-economic factors (gender, race, marital status, employment status, education, and income) are also considered as independent variables. This study uses the Oxford happiness questionnaire to estimate happiness score of more than 300 people living in six neighbourhoods. The neighbourhoods are selected randomly from Skudai neighbourhoods in Johor, Malaysia. The land use data were obtained by adding related questions to the Oxford happiness questionnaire. The strength of the relationship in this study is found using generalised linear modelling (GLM). The findings of this research indicate that increase in happiness feeling is correlated with an increasing income, more beautiful and attractive neighbourhood design, sufficient shopping centres, recreational spaces, and daily service centres. The results show that all land use factors in this study have significant relationship with happiness but only income, among socio-economic factors, can affect happiness significantly. Therefore, land use factors can affect happiness in Skudai more than socio-economic factors.

Keywords: Neighbourhood land use, neighbourhood design, happiness, socio-economic factors, generalised linear modelling.

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Authors: Salam Khalid Al-Agha, Inamullah Bhatti, Hossam Adel Zaqoot, Shaukat Hayat Khan, Abdul Khalique Ansari

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This paper presents the results of preliminary assessment of water quality along the coastal areas in the vicinity of Left Bank Outfall Drainage (LBOD) and Tidal Link Drain (TLD) in Sindh province after the cyclone 2A occurred in 1999. The water samples were collected from various RDs of Tidal Link Drain and lakes during September 2001 to April 2002 and were analysed for salinity, nitrite, phosphate, ammonia, silicate and suspended material in water. The results of the study showed considerable variations in water quality depending upon the location along the coast in the vicinity of LBOD and RDs. The salinity ranged between 4.39–65.25 ppt in Tidal Link Drain samples whereas 2.4–38.05 ppt in samples collected from lakes. The values of suspended material at various RDs of Tidal Link Drain ranged between 56.6–2134 ppm and at the lakes between 68–297 ppm. The data of continuous monitoring at RD–93 showed the range of PO4 (8.6–25.2 μg/l), SiO3 (554.96–1462 μg/l), NO2 (0.557.2–25.2 μg/l) and NH3 (9.38–23.62 μg/l). The concentration of nutrients in water samples collected from different RDs was found in the range of PO4 (10.85 to 11.47 μg/l), SiO3 (1624 to 2635.08 μg/l), NO2 (20.38 to 44.8 μg/l) and NH3 (24.08 to 26.6 μg/l). Sindh coastal areas which situated at the north-western boundary the Arabian Sea are highly vulnerable to flood damages due to flash floods during SW monsoon or impact of sea level rise and storm surges coupled with cyclones passing through Arabian Sea along Pakistan coast. It is hoped that the obtained data in this study would act as a database for future investigations and monitoring of LBOD and Tidal Link Drain coastal waters.

Keywords: Tidal Link Drain, Salinity, Nutrients, Nitrite salts, Coastal areas.

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Authors: Joan Iliopoulou-Georgudaki, Chris Theodoropoulos, Danae Venieri, Maria Lagkadinou

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Monitoring of microbial flora in aquacultured sea bream, in relation to the physicochemical parameters of the rearing seawater, ended to a model describing the influence of the last to the quality of the fisheries. Fishes were sampled during eight months from four aqua farms in Western Greece and analyzed for psychrotrophic, H2S producing bacteria, Salmonella sp., heterotrophic plate count (PCA), with simultaneous physical evaluation. Temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, conductivity, TDS, salinity, NO3 - and NH4 + ions were recorded. Temperature, dissolved oxygen and conductivity were correlated, respectively, to PCA, Pseudomonas sp. and Shewanella sp. counts. These parameters were the inputs of the model, which was driving, as outputs, to the prediction of PCA, Vibrio sp., Pseudomonas sp. and Shewanella sp. counts, and fish microbiological quality. The present study provides, for the first time, a ready-to-use predictive model of fisheries hygiene, leading to an effective management system for the optimization of aquaculture fisheries quality.

Keywords: Microbiological, model, physicochemical, Seabream.

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Authors: E. P. Nurlaili, M. Astuti, Y. Marsono, S. Naruki

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Iron is an essential nutrient with limited bioavailability. Nutritional anemia caused mainly by iron deficiency is the most recognized nutritional problem in both countries as well as affluent societies. Rice (Oryza sativa L.) has become the most important cereal crop for the improvement of human health due to the starch, protein, oil, and the majority of micronutrients, particularly in Asian countries. In this study, the iron availability and profile lipid were evaluated for the extracts from Cibeusi varieties (black rices) of ancient rice brans. Results: The quality of K, B, R, E diets groups shows the same effect on the growth of rats. Hematocrit and MCHC levels of rats fed K, B, R and E diets were not significantly (P<0.05). MCV and MCH levels of rats K, B, R were significantly (P<0.05) with E groups but rats K, B, R were not significantly (P<0.05). The iron content in the serum of rats fed with K, B, R and E diets were not significantly (P<0.05). The highest level of iron in the serum was founded in the B group. The iron content in the liver of rats fed with K, B, R and E diets were not significantly (P<0.05). The highest level of iron in the liver was founded in the R group. HDL cholesterol levels were significantly (P<0.05) between rats of fed B, E with K, R, but K and R were not significantly (P<0.05). LDL cholesterol levels of rats fed K and E significantly (P<0.05) with B and R. Conclusions: the bran of pigmented rice varieties has, with some exceptions, greater antioxidant and free-radical scavenging activities. The results also show that pigmented rice extracts acted as prooxidants in the lipid peroxidation assay, possibly by mechanisms described for the pro-oxidant activities of tocopherol and ascorbic. Pigmented rice bran extracts more effectively increases iron stores and reduces the prevalence of iron deficiency.

Keywords: Anemia, black rice bran extract, iron, profile lipid.

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Authors: W. Koranuntachai, T. Chantrasmi, U. Nontakaew

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Medical latex gloves are made from the latex compound in production lines. Latex dipping is considered one of the most important processes that directly affect the final product quality. In a continuous production line, a chain conveyor carries the formers through the process and partially submerges them into an open channel flow in a latex dipping tank. In general, the conveyor speed is determined by the desired production capacity, and the latex-dipping tank can then be designed accordingly. It is important to understand the flow behavior in the dipping tank in order to achieve high quality in the process. In this work, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) was used to simulate the flow past an array of formers in a simplified latex dipping process. The computational results showed both the flow structure and the vortex generation between two formers. The maximum shear stress over the surface of the formers was used as the quality metric of the latex-dipping process when adjusting operation parameters.

Keywords: medical latex gloves, latex dipping, dipping tank, computational fluid dynamics

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Authors: A. Retbi, M. Khalidi Idrissi, S. Bennani

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The success of an e-learning system is highly dependent on the quality of its educational content and how effective, complete, and simple the design tool can be for teachers. Educational modeling languages (EMLs) are proposed as design languages intended to teachers for modeling diverse teaching-learning experiences, independently of the pedagogical approach and in different contexts. However, most existing EMLs are criticized for being too abstract and too complex to be understood and manipulated by teachers. In this paper, we present a visual EML that simplifies the process of designing learning scenarios for teachers with no programming background. Based on the conceptual framework of the activity theory, our resulting visual EML focuses on using Domainspecific modeling techniques to provide a pedagogical level of abstraction in the design process.

Keywords: Educational modeling language, Domain Specific Modeling, authoring systems, learning scenario.

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Authors: Dong-Yan Huang, Ee Ping Ong, Susanto Rahardja, Minghui Dong, Haizhou Li

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The transformation of vocal characteristics aims at modifying voice such that the intelligibility of aphonic voice is increased or the voice characteristics of a speaker (source speaker) to be perceived as if another speaker (target speaker) had uttered it. In this paper, the current state-of-the-art voice characteristics transformation methodology is reviewed. Special emphasis is placed on voice transformation methodology and issues for improving the transformed speech quality in intelligibility and naturalness are discussed. In particular, it is suggested to use the modulation theory of speech as a base for research on high quality voice transformation. This approach allows one to separate linguistic, expressive, organic and perspective information of speech, based on an analysis of how they are fused when speech is produced. Therefore, this theory provides the fundamentals not only for manipulating non-linguistic, extra-/paralinguistic and intra-linguistic variables for voice transformation, but also for paving the way for easily transposing the existing voice transformation methods to emotion-related voice quality transformation and speaking style transformation. From the perspectives of human speech production and perception, the popular voice transformation techniques are described and classified them based on the underlying principles either from the speech production or perception mechanisms or from both. In addition, the advantages and limitations of voice transformation techniques and the experimental manipulation of vocal cues are discussed through examples from past and present research. Finally, a conclusion and road map are pointed out for more natural voice transformation algorithms in the future.

Keywords: Voice transformation, Voice Quality, Emotion, Individuality, Speaking Style, Speech Production, Speech Perception.

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Authors: Erol Karaca

Abstract:

This study aims to analyze ceramic employees’ occupational health and safety training expectations. To that general objective, the study tries to examine whether occupational health and safety training expectations of ceramic employees meaningfully differentiate depending on demographic features and professional, social and economic conditions. For this purpose, a questionnaire was developed by the researcher. The research data were collected through this questionnaire called “Questionnaire of Occupational Health and Safety Training Expectation” (QSOHSTE). QSOHSTE was applied to 125 ceramic employees working in Kütahya, Turkey. Data obtained from questionnaire were analyzed via SPSS 21. The findings, obtained from the study, revealed that employees’ agreement level to occupational health and safety training expectation statements is generally high-level. The findings reveal that employees expect professional interest such as increased development and investment, preventive measures for accidents, interventions to evaluate the working conditions, establishment of safe working environments and sustainment of adequate equipment for occupational health and safety training process. Besides these findings, employees’ agreement level to occupational health and safety training expectation statements also varies in terms of educational level, professional seniority, income level and perception of economic condition.

Keywords: Occupational Health and Safety, Occupational Training, Occupational Expectation.

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Authors: Vladyslav Povoroznyuk, Galina Dubetska, Roksolana Povoroznyuk

Abstract:

In recent years, the problem of hyperuricemia is getting a particular importance due to its increased incidence in the world population. The aim of this study was to determine uriс acid level in blood serum, incidence of hyperuricemia among women in postmenopausal period and their association with body mass index and some components of metabolic syndrome (triglyceride, cholesterol, systolic and diastolic pressure). We examined 412 women in postmenopausal period. They were divided in to the following groups: I group (BMI = 18,5-24,9), II group (BMI = 25,0-29,9), III group (BMI = 30,0-34,9), IV group (BMI > 35). We determined uric acid level among women during postmenopausal period depending on their body mass index. The higher level of uric acid was found in patients with the maximal body mass index (BMI > 35). In the I group it was 277,52 ± 8,40; in the II group – 286,81 ± 7,79; in the III group – 291,81 ± 7,56; in the IV group – 327,17 ± 12,17. Incidence of hyperuricemia among women in the I group was 10,2%, in the II group – 15,9%; in the III group – 21,2%, in the IV group – 34,2%. We found an interdependence between an uric acid level and BMI in the examined women (r = 0,21, p < 0,05). We determined that the highest level of triglyceride (F = 18,62, p < 0,05), cholesterol (F = 3,64, p < 0,05), atherogenic coefficient (F = 22,64, p < 0,05), systolic (F = 10,5, p < 0,05) and diastolic pressure (F = 4,30, p < 0,05) was among women with hyperuricemia. It was an interdependence between an uric acid level and triglyceride (r = 0,26, p < 0,05), atherogenic coefficient (r = 0,24, p < 0,05) among women in postmenopausal period.

Keywords: Hyperuricemia, uric acid, body mass index, metabolic syndrome, triglyceride, cholesterol, atherogenic coefficient, systolic and diastolic pressure, women.

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Authors: Rahman Davtalab, Saba Ghotbi

Abstract:

Florida is one of the most vulnerable states to natural disasters among the 50 states of the USA. The state exposed by tropical storms, hurricanes, storm surge, landslide, etc. Besides the mentioned natural phenomena, global warming, sea-level rise, and other anthropogenic environmental changes make a very complicated and unpredictable system for decision-makers. In this study, we tried to highlight the effects of climate change and sea-level rise on surface water and groundwater systems for three different geographical locations in Florida; Main Canal of Jacksonville Beach in the northeast of Florida adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean, Grace Lake in central Florida, far away from surrounded coastal line, and Mc Dill in Florida and adjacent to Tampa Bay and Mexican Gulf. An integrated hydrologic and hydraulic model was developed and simulated for all three cases, including surface water, groundwater, or a combination of both. For the case study of Main Canal-Jacksonville Beach, the investigation showed that a 76 cm sea-level rise in time horizon 2060 could increase the flow velocity of the tide cycle for the main canal's outlet and headwater. This case also revealed how the sea level rise could change the tide duration, potentially affecting the coastal ecosystem. As expected, sea-level rise can raise the groundwater level. Therefore, for the Mc Dill case, the effect of groundwater rise on soil storage and the performance of stormwater retention ponds is investigated. The study showed that sea-level rise increased the pond’s seasonal high water up to 40 cm by time horizon 2060. The reliability of the retention pond is dropped from 99% for the current condition to 54% for the future. The results also proved that the retention pond could not retain and infiltrate the designed treatment volume within 72 hours, which is a significant indication of increasing pollutants in the future. Grace Lake case study investigates the effects of climate change on groundwater recharge. This study showed that using the dynamically downscaled data of the groundwater recharge can decline up to 24 % by the mid-21st century. 

Keywords: groundwater, surface water, Florida, retention pond, tide, sea-level rise

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Authors: Monday O. Ale, Adebukola A. Akintade, Olasunbo O. Orungbemi

Abstract:

Fermentation as an important operation in the processing of cocoa beans is now affected by the recent climate change across the globe. The major requirement for effective fermentation is the ability of the material used to retain sufficient heat for the required microbial activities. Apart from the effects of climate on the rate of heat retention, the materials used for fermentation plays an important role. Most Farmers still restrict fermentation activities to the use of traditional methods. Improving on cocoa fermentation in this era of climate change makes it necessary to work on other materials that can be suitable for cocoa fermentation. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the effects of fermentation techniques on the quality of cocoa beans. The materials used in this fermentation research were heap-leaves (traditional), stainless steel, plastic tin, plastic basket and wooden box. The period of fermentation varies from zero days to 10 days. Physical and chemical tests were carried out for variables in quality determination in the samples. The weight per bean varied from 1.0-1.2 g after drying across the samples and the major color of the dry beans observed was brown except with the samples from stainless steel. The moisture content varied from 5.5-7%. The mineral content and the heavy metals decreased with increase in the fermentation period. A wooden box can conclusively be used as an alternative to heap-leaves as there was no significant difference in the physical features of the samples fermented with the two methods. The use of a wooden box as an alternative for cocoa fermentation is therefore recommended for cocoa farmers.

Keywords: Effects, fermentation, fermentation materials, period, quality.

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Authors: Muhammad Aqil, Ichiro Kita, Moses Macalinao

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Reliable water level forecasts are particularly important for warning against dangerous flood and inundation. The current study aims at investigating the suitability of the adaptive network based fuzzy inference system for continuous water level modeling. A hybrid learning algorithm, which combines the least square method and the back propagation algorithm, is used to identify the parameters of the network. For this study, water levels data are available for a hydrological year of 2002 with a sampling interval of 1-hour. The number of antecedent water level that should be included in the input variables is determined by two statistical methods, i.e. autocorrelation function and partial autocorrelation function between the variables. Forecasting was done for 1-hour until 12-hour ahead in order to compare the models generalization at higher horizons. The results demonstrate that the adaptive networkbased fuzzy inference system model can be applied successfully and provide high accuracy and reliability for river water level estimation. In general, the adaptive network-based fuzzy inference system provides accurate and reliable water level prediction for 1-hour ahead where the MAPE=1.15% and correlation=0.98 was achieved. Up to 12-hour ahead prediction, the model still shows relatively good performance where the error of prediction resulted was less than 9.65%. The information gathered from the preliminary results provide a useful guidance or reference for flood early warning system design in which the magnitude and the timing of a potential extreme flood are indicated.

Keywords: Neural Network, Fuzzy, River, Forecasting

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